Nine Tails
by fallen-chan
Summary: War is never pretty. /Nine tails of fury and death. The war will take - has taken - everything from you and you go the same way you come, in a blaze of chakra and death./ 2nd person POV •ℵ• oneshot •ℵ• character deaths •ℵ• very AU


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** Started writing bits and pieces of this a month ago pre-AP exams when the incessant in-class reviewing bored me. Found this a few weeks ago when all the project assignments were annoying me and finished it today during finals presentations. It's rough, un-betaed (as usual) and vaguely edited [in the sense that there shouldn't be any spelling errors and glaringly painful grammatical errors. Possibly. _Hopefully_.]

**Summary:** War is never pretty. _[Nine tails of fury and death. The war will take - has taken - everything from you and you go the same way you come, in a blaze of chakra and death.]_

* * *

One tail. The world is painted in shades of red and fangs bite into your lip when you snarl. You slam into the enemy and men go flying, throats ripped open by your nails.

Sai is right behind you, ink splattering the trampled grass as his brush flies across scraps of paper. He stumbles over a twitching body and falls, crawling to his knees only to fall again.

You want to scream for him to go back. Sai is supposed to live for Sakura, for the rest of your team in your stead (you are the living blade here to strike down Sasuke before he reaches them and you are both already dead). The words die in your throat as he gets up and stumbles forward, the bleeding stump of his wrist staining his shirt even as he draws his tanto. Your lips pull back into a scream and the tears turn to steam as they fall when he disappears in a hole and never climbs up .

You fill that hole with the dead, chakra ripping the trees from the ground faster than Yamato can regrow them, and think it's a fitting tribute to Sai.

"Who's smiling now, bastards?" you want to shout.

Shikamaru shouts at you from the treeline and you tear away from the forest and carve a chunk from the three-headed dog menacing the gate. There are bodies crushed under the paws and something breaks inside when you see a child's body, face a mask of agony.

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ × ∙◦ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

Two tails. Your scream is more of a demon's roar now and a swirling ball of chakra slams into a leg.

Too slow. You can hear the shrieking civilians as the entire wall crumbles, a crippled animal bearing down on apartments. You start forward but Izumo is shouting from the forest and you hear the name "Akatsuki" being thrown around.

You lope toward the wavering front line and slam into a clay bird. The world disappears in a flash of light and fire licks at the ancient trees. When you regain your bearings you see nothing but fire and smoke. The trees topple and exploding spiders and birds splatter blood across the green leaves.

It rains. You stand on the ground and your shoes and hands squish in bloody mud as you chase after the enemy. You come to a sudden stop when the branches wrap around your arms and legs and your hands are red with blood. You hear a howl cut short and Kiba's body smashes into a tree to your right and Akamaru struggles to stand with two broken legs as grotesque masks spit fire and water and lightening at them. You tear at the branches holding you and curse Yamato and shout for Kiba to run, goddamnit, but all he does is cough up blood and down another soldier pill. You're still shouting his name when Akamaru burns alive and the wood cracks when you hear Kiba scream and make a suicide run. His body slams into the ground next to you and his hand twitches as electricity courses through it. He vomits blood that burns hot through your shoes. You scream and wood shatters and your heart beats loud in your ears as your chakra boils.

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ × ∙◦ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

Three tails. This is the limit of your control and the Kyuubi's bloodlust taunts you, dangling power just beyond your reach. Your eyes are sharper, pupils red, and you can hear the clicking of puppets' joints and the sand-and-mud absorbing the blows. Chakra boils around you and you know that weapons can not make you bleed now.

Temari stops by you, riding on her battle fan, and shouts that Gaaa is in trouble. The sand falters in your ears and you jump through the trees until you slam into the seething mass of puppets and they burn red. Kankuro is dead in the remains of Karasu and Spider and Tenten's weapons lie scattered. She gasps for breath and you smell the poison in her blood.

You see the hunchbacked form of the puppeteer and snarl and Gaara steps back when chakra explodes around you and the three waving tails, the Kyuubi manifest, lash out at puppets with bloody blades. Temari is off to the side, fan throwing puppets against trees and sending weapons flying back toward the puppeteer.

She screams in anger when her fan is torn, snatched from her hands and snapped into pieces. Gaara's sand falters and a puppet slips past his sand as it protects her and not him and you snarl, always just a few inches away from reaching the puppeteer but never close enough. Your Rasengan splinters wood over and over until the mud is half wood.

Temari follows her fan and you hear the snap of breaking bone when she hits a tree. You see the feral light enter Gaara's eyes and the sand flows back to him as he strikes again and again with Shukaku's power and lands blows that would slaughter humans but only thins the mass of puppets. You see a flash of yellow and launch yourself at it but you already hear the sound of explosives against sand and you slam into a body that gives too easily. The Kyuubi's chakra curls around you right before you see yellow in black and red fade to white clay and your senses are overrun by fire and smoke and screams.

You can smell blood and burnt flesh under the smoke and burning wood. There is a body half on yours and blood is hissing as it drips on a shroud of chakra. You squint and you can see Gaara under assualt from puppets and explosives and his sand armor is cracked and falling. He bleeds. You taste blood and fury and know your lips are cracked and bleeding freely.

You grope around for your weapons pouch and your fingers close on someone's wrist. The smoke clears and you fall down into the Kyuubi's chakra and let it drown you when you see Hinata. An arm is missing and the blackened skin and bone is all that remains of her face. You roar and the skin is peeling off your hands and face to reveal nothing but chakra as you dash out of the crater.

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ × ∙◦ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

A bandaged sword slams into your side and you whirl, claws lashing out and ripping away cloth. Lee passes in a blur and his hands and feet blur as he pushes Kisame back toward Shino and Anko and Kurenai. Past them you see Sakura kneeling over Neji's body, his bones stark white against the blood on his shirt; Asuma is standing next to Kakashi, whose Sharingan spins as clones explode in bursts of lightning and Itachi's eyes whirl as blood drips from them even as the last of Kakashi's clones are destroyed.

_- Sensei. -_

Black fire eats away at Asuma, caught in Itachi's Tsukiyomi. Kakashi's face is a mask of fury beneath the mask but his Raikiri dies against Susanoo as he opens his gates and chakra spirals red around him.

_- Sakura. -  
_

Her green eyes are dry as Neji's blood pumps out onto her hands and her fists glow with chakra as she splits the ground with a punch and throws herself at the man in the black and red cloak who sends her flying before she ever gets close enough to touch him. She falls and gets up and falls and gets up until you want to scream for her stop and fall back to Konoha but you can no longer speak and you know with a sinking certainty that this is the last line of defense for Konoha.

_- Ero-Sennin. -  
_

Gamabunta is somewhere beyond them, Jiraiya standing on his head as he faces Manda and a giant centipede. You can smell fire and oil and see two toads on his shoulders and know this is his limit.

_- Sasuke. -  
_

The last bit of hope in your heart for the boy you knew dies when you see Orochimaru on Manda, looking at the world wearing Sasuke's face.

_- Sorry Sakura. I broke my promise. -  
_

Your senses explode outward and you can hear the sound of earth and rock splitting apart. You wonder if it is Sakura or Tsunade.

_- Baa-chan ... you'd better not let them get Konoha, got it? -  
_

The memory of Akamaru's dying howl and Temari's scream and Sai's silent death and Shikamaru's shout of Asuma's name and Gaara's unbridled fury as he made his last stand fill your ears as the last bits of humanity peel off. You keep walking, past your friends and their enemies, malevolent chakra pressing down on Oto shinobi, until Manda is before you. Gamabunta jumps away and you think Jiraiya says something - sorrygoodbyethankyou - before your world fades to nothing but red.

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ × ∙◦ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

Five tails. You completely bypass four tails in your fury and a menacing ball has Manda scrambling to leave, cursing Orochimaru's name, as half his body vaporizes. Kusanagi is batted aside and Sasuke's name might be in your snarl when you pounce and your chakra burns even the mud and steel.

Pain shoots through your side and you slam through trees and land in the forest. The man with piercings in black and red blows you away each time you advance on him.

Six tails. One body falls. Two more take his place and you fire another menacing ball as explosives slam into your limbs and tails.

Seven tails. Gravity tears at you and your world is sealed away by darkness. Your tails lash furiously and your chakra takes on a life of its own but you are sealed away still.

Eight tails. The Kyuubi's bones form and the rudimentary muscles and tendons are there when you burst free. The three bodies you destroyed are alive again and another three bodies stand before you. There is a giant crater beneath your feet.

_You _- the small part of you that remains in the Kyuubi - see blond hair framed by light as flesh starts to form on massive white bones. You know that you see spinning Sharingan eyes - that the Kyuubi sees them - and want to scream and cling to what _you _see as boiling chakra overwhelms you and pulls you underneath the raging currents.

Nine tails of fury and death. The war will take - has taken - everything from you and you go the same way you come, in a blaze of chakra and death.

In the light of glowing red eyes and the crumbling paper of the seal, you smile as you disintegrate.

०౦ംഠ०҆'˚'҅०ം◦∙ × ∙◦ം०҆'˚'҅०౦ംഠ०

_- Ne ... Tou-San, is that you? -  
_


End file.
